I played in a pretty competitive rec league this year. Standings are kept and posted in the newspaper and all that jazz. Some teams are perennial powerhouses and some pretty good rivalries between some of the teams. It's definitely one of the more competitive rec leagues you'll come across. The ages probably range from 18 to 40, with the average age being 25 or so. Some teams are young, some like mine are older.

Anyways, it was my experience that it's mostly the young guys that get hyper competitve and have the short tempers. I know for myself I was same way. I enjoy nothing more than a hard fought close game. (For me being a defenseman now the hard fought close games mean don't make a mistake!!) In these games though you the majority of the chippy play comes from the young pups. I'm just out there to play and want to win as much as the rest of them but fail to see how trying to hurt guys is part of the game plan. I suppose when your older you realize there's more important things in life than trying to knock some guys head off. I don't think some young guys realize this yet.